diff --git a/pydecorate/decorator_base.py b/pydecorate/decorator_base.py
index ee129f7..c540833 100644
--- a/pydecorate/decorator_base.py
+++ b/pydecorate/decorator_base.py
@@ -433,6 +433,9 @@ def _add_scale(self, colormap, title=None, **kwargs):
         # draw object
         draw = self._get_canvas(self.image)
 
+        # check for font object
+        self._get_current_font()
+
         # draw base
         px = (self.style['propagation'][0] +
               self.style['newline_propagation'][0])